


Up on Gormott's Shoulder

by yoshizora



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 17:22:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14430471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoshizora/pseuds/yoshizora
Summary: Patroka steals from Mòrag. Akhos wants to be a brother. All in all, it's a pretty average day.





	Up on Gormott's Shoulder

**Author's Note:**

> some random dumb stuff cuz i like these three hanging out i guess 
> 
> also, spoilers etc etc

“My satchel is missing,” Mòrag says out loud to no one in particular. 

Akhos looks up from the book he’s reading. He’s the only one who seems to have heard her; everyone else is either preoccupied with their own activities or simply napping under the shade provided by trees.

“Oh, your satchel? Yes, I saw Patroka taking off with it just a few minutes ago.” 

Mòrag stares at him.

“And you did not think to say anything about it?” 

“I didn’t deem it important enough to mention.” 

He smiles. Mòrag continues to stare. 

“… Could you point me to where she had gone?” 

“I can do far better than that— I’ll take you to her myself. I know exactly where she is. No need to thank me just yet.” 

If Mòrag didn’t know any better, she would swear this is just one big scheme set up by both Akhos and Patroka to get her away from the others and rob her blind, but what else is there to take? Patroka already has her satchel, and all she has left on her are her uniform and swords. And they wouldn’t actually… do that. Akhos stands up and pockets his book, dusting his knees off. 

At least there wasn’t anything _too_ important in her satchel, just a moderate sum of gold and some vegetables she had purchased that morning before they left Torigoth. She can’t imagine why Patroka would have stolen those. Maybe she did it just because she’s Patroka. 

“Oi, you two headed somewhere?” Zeke calls, when he spots Akhos leading Mòrag away from their campsite. 

“Just off to catch a dirty thief!” Akhos calls back. 

“… Have fun, then!” 

Akhos smirks and rolls his eyes, which only Mòrag sees. “Everything he says is too predictable. What a bore. Anyway, Mòrag, I suppose you might be wondering why Patroka had decided to rob you.” 

“Not really. To be honest, I’m more interested in why you’re choosing to help me at all.” 

“Surely your opinion of me isn’t that low! I’m not above helping my helplessly oblivious Driver when she’s being taken advantage of.” 

He’s praising himself while insulting Mòrag. Of course. Mòrag sighs. 

Akhos continues talking as they make their way through a path that winds inside part of the Titan’s upper shoulder. “Also, Patroka _is_ my sister. As her brother, it’s only one of my many duties to keep an eye on her.” 

“You could have prevented her from taking my belongings in the first place.” 

“Oh, absolutely! I could have.” 

He sneers at her, but Mòrag is already too used to his usual attitude to feel bothered in the least bit. Besides, Patroka is generally worse. They’re just… Akhos and Patroka. Just without all the murderous predispositions before they found their Core Crystals. That’s something, at least. 

Their uphill climb leads them along the narrow cliffs that overlook Coolley Lake. It’s unbelievably warm today, but at this elevation, there’s a cool breeze that blows through the winding path. Akhos changes the conversation to something about his latest idea for a screenplay, but Mòrag’s hardly listening. Ever since Nia finally told the two about the whole story of their involvement with Torna and their final moments up on the World Tree, Akhos had hardly let a day pass without mentioning the sibling bond he and Patroka had had before. 

He’s so fixated on the idea of them being siblings that it’s sort of bizarre. Patroka, on the other hand, had practically zero interest in listening to Nia’s recount. 

She can’t help but sympathize. They bicker and insult each other and squabble like children, but Akhos tries. He really does try. If only Mòrag could say the same of Patroka. 

“Are you listening? Of course you aren’t. See, this is why Patroka was able to steal your things so easily.” 

“Apologies.”

“At any rate, we’re here,” Akhos says, and they emerge on a wide outcropping that overlooks the lake and Torigoth and everything around it far, far below. Patroka is sitting there with Mòrag’s satchel beside her, helping herself to its contents. She looks over her shoulder at them with a mouthful of food and turns back around without so much as a wave. 

“Patroka. What are you doing?” Mòrag asks, approaching her. 

“What does it look like I’m doing, genius? I’m _eating._ ” 

“Our poor Driver was particularly distraught after discovering her personal belongings were taken. Really, Patroka, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” 

“Whatever.” 

The box of Puri Leaf Salad that Mòrag had been planning to save for the evening is open on Patroka’s lap, already half-eaten. She eyes it, somewhat dismayed, and sits beside her. Patroka doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t move away from her either. Akhos sits at Mòrag’s other side. 

She isn’t sure what to call this. The view is stunning. The weather is perfect. But Patroka is eating her stolen salad and Akhos had been patronizing her the entire way up here. 

Then, to her surprise, Patroka stretches out her arms and grins. 

“ _This_ is the life! Eating good food with a killer view like this, away from all the annoying rabble… what could be better? Am I right?” She takes another bite of Mòrag’s salad. “Hey, Mòrag, get some of that Crispy Sautè next time we’re in Torigoth.”

“I’d be happy to buy food for you whenever you’d like, if you would only refrain from stealing from me.” 

“Don’t spoil her,” Akhos says. “Otherwise she’ll never learn to earn her keep.” 

“Hey! Stay out of it! Let her spoil me if she wants to!” 

“No, he has a point,” Mòrag says. “I shouldn’t be encouraging this kind of behavior.” 

“I earn my keep _plenty._ Who was it that saved your ass from being crushed by that rampaging Sauros the other day when it tried to step on you?” 

“Brighid.”

Patroka narrows her eyes, slowly chewing. “… Really? You sure it wasn’t my barrier?” 

“I’m certain.”

“Huh.”

“ _Anyway,_ ” Akhos says. “Would it kill you to stay with the rest of the group? Or at least let me know if you’re going to go wander off on your own? You’ve no idea how much of a hassle keeping tabs on you can be.”

For a while Patroka doesn’t say anything, only chews with loud obnoxious crunches that make Akhos grit his teeth. She reaches into Mòrag’s satchel, rummaging around for more food, and triumphantly pulls out a Dolphin Carrot. The loud crunching resumes. Akhos glares at Mòrag with a silent _well? Aren’t you going to do anything?_ and Mòrag wonders how she ended up sitting between them. 

“Annoying,” Patroka finally says after she finishes off the carrot. “Sooo annoying. Who even asked you to follow me around? I don’t need you trailing after me like some little kid, Akhos. Learn to mind your own business.”

“As your brother—“

“For the last time, I’m not your sister!” Her voice rises. Mòrag senses the sudden spike in tension (the ether?) and prepares to stand up, but Patroka is already up on her feet. She’s clutching Mòrag’s satchel, digging around for more food. “What’s it gonna take to drill that into your skull? We’re _Blades._ We don’t have family.” 

“While it’s true we may lack a proper blood relation, I feel as though we still have a bond unique from those of other Blades,” Akhos clears his throat and pushes his glasses up. “Stop being so difficult.” 

“ _That’s_ the best you can come up with? Ugh, I’m outta here.” 

Mòrag’s hand shoots out and grabs Patroka’s ankle before she can walk away. By reflex, Patroka tries to kick her off, but Mòrag’s grip is strong and she doesn’t yield. 

“Oh, let her be,” Akhos says, looking out over the view down below them. “She’s just having one of her moods again.” 

“One of my _what?_ Excuse me?!” 

Mòrag still doesn’t quite understand it, but she remembers being witness to Akhos’ very real anguish after Patroka’s abrupt death. He cared. In spite of everything, he cared. And somehow, he still does, either because it’s just been ingrained into who he is or because he had become completely entranced by Nia’s stories of how he had been with Patroka before. 

She doesn’t understand who he was, but she can understand that desire for family, at the very least. 

“Sit down,” Mòrag sharply says, and she earns a hearty smack to the face from her own satchel. But nonetheless, Patroka sits with a huff, pulling at blades of grass beneath her fingers just to excuse herself from having to look at either of them. 

“Too late. The view’s been ruined,” she declares. “See, this is why I don’t tell anyone when I feel like having me time. That kinda defeats the purpose of it being _me_ time.” 

Mòrag rubs at her nose where the satchel had connected with her face. Patroka reclines back, stretching her legs out across Mòrag’s lap, and folds her arms behind her head. More cliffs jut out above them. Gormott’s head slowly sways back and forth. The scene is so idyllic, but that tension still hangs in the air. 

“You have a brother as well if I recall, Mòrag?” Akhos asks, apparently not quite ready to leave that matter alone just yet. Mòrag nods. 

“Yes, although we are not siblings by birth.”

“Hear that, Patroka? Blood ties hardly matter when it comes down to it. I’ll never understand why you’re so against being my sister.” 

Patroka’s evidently still pissed. “Maybe because you’re just _annoying?_ ” 

“Hah! There’s that regular attitude of yours yet again. You’re like a broken record.” 

“Don’t you ever shut up even for a few seconds, Akhos?” 

They’re so… 

Well, how could she not laugh? Her chuckle gets both of them to shut up; Akhos raises a brow, while Patroka only looks more pissed off. She pulls her legs off of Mòrag’s lap and sits upright, leaning in a bit too close with a suspicious glare and a sliver of bared teeth. 

“I’m sorry. I just realized how envious I am of you two.”

“ _Really,_ ” Akhos says, incredulous. 

“You’re both so frank and straightforward with each other. Well, perhaps Patroka may be holding back, but— ouch.” 

Patroka had swung the satchel at Mòrag’s face again. 

“Oh, for the love of— at least beat her up _after_ she’s finished speaking!”

“… Thank you, Akhos. I think.” 

“Don’t care. She’s just babbling about unimportant nothings.”

But somehow, miraculously, the tension had been forgotten and Mòrag feels at ease once more. The matter isn’t resolved, though. Maybe it isn’t meant to be resolved in that way. Maybe it’s fine as long as they’re still who they are. Akhos will continue to insist that they’re siblings, and Patroka will sneer at him, but at the end of the day she’ll still eat his cooking and he’ll still trade barbs with her on equal footing. 

They fall into a comfortable silence for a while. Patroka resumes helping herself to the contents of Mòrag’s satchel, though this time she tosses one of the carrots to Akhos and shoves that half-eaten box of salad at Mòrag. A wordless peace offering? Or it’s just her way of expressing that she’s no longer as angry as she had been before. 

“But I must say, this view really is inspiring. I’ll have to bring a notebook with me up here next time,” Akhos says, and both he and Mòrag notice how Patroka doesn’t even protest to the notion that there’d be a _next time._

“I could run back to the campsite to fetch one for you, if you’d like.” 

“No, don’t go,” Patroka quickly says before Akhos can even consider the offer. “Just shut up and enjoy the view with us.”


End file.
